Wyndham Clark addressed the BMW Championship scrutiny during his Tuesday press conference ahead of the Tour Championship at East Lake. Asked about the 14th-hole incident, Clark said he never fully grounded a club behind the ball and was simply testing different clubs to judge his lie, something he said any player does. He pointed to increased scrutiny under the cameras, referencing Bryson DeChambeau’s penalty at the Open Championship as another example of a moment that drew outsized attention.
“That lie was never bad. It was more just judging what it was. By no means did I take a bad lie and make it really good,” Clark said. “People can think what they want. I know I didn’t do anything that was costing the integrity of the field.”
The comments were his first on the incident, which happened during his win at the BMW Championship on Sunday, the latest in a string of similar allegations against the two-time U.S. Open champion.
During the final round, Clark’s tee shot on the par-4 14th hole missed right and settled in the rough. With 173 yards to a pin tucked at the back left of the green, he set down multiple clubs behind his ball while assessing the shot. CBS analyst Trevor Immelman noted the moment on the broadcast.
“He’s taking a long look at this,” Immelman said. “This is like the third club he’s placed down behind the ball there.” Fellow analyst Frank Nobilo replied, “So the lie might be better.”
Clark was not assessed a penalty for the 14th hole. He went on to birdie the final three holes of his round, closing with an even-par 70 to win his third title of the season by three strokes over Patrick Cantlay and four over Rory McIlroy at Bellerive Country Club.
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Sunday’s incident was not the first time Clark’s positioning of his club near the ball has drawn scrutiny this year. During the final round of the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills in June, a video posted by PGA Tour caddie Brent Henley showed Clark rehearsing a practice swing in the rough on his way to his second U.S. Open title. Henley wrote on X, “I think Wyndham Clark cheats here.” Clark was not penalized for that incident either.
Clark also faced accusations of improving his lie at the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. During the third round, television cameras showed Clark pressing his club into the rough behind his ball on the 18th hole, and footage appeared to show the ball move slightly. He was not penalized, though Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee disagreed with the ruling at the time. “The ball clearly moved,” Chamblee said. “He clearly didn’t ground the club lightly.” Clark addressed the incident afterward: “I’m not cheating or anything like that or trying to improve my lie. Obviously, they zoom in, and it makes it look worse.”
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Clark has now won three times on the PGA Tour this season, including a major championship, positioning him among the front-runners for PGA Tour Player of the Year.
